Thales nCipher NC4033E-6K0 nShield F3 PCIe Hardware Security Module

The nShield Solo series, composed of the Solo+ and new Solo XC model, is a high-assurance security solution delivered as a PCIe card designed for embedding in stand-alone servers or appliances. The nShield Solo series delivers dedicated cryptographic offload and acceleration capability to satisfy the highest performance requirements. nShield Solo is ideal for use within security appliances to achieve FIPS-grade security hardening.

Fully supporting the Thales Security World architecture, nShield Solo provides an ideal combination of high assurance and operational ease. This makes it easier for you to define and enforce security policies, such as access control and separation of duties, while also automating burdensome and risk-prone administrative tasks including back-ups and compliance reporting.

nShield Solo is fully compatible with the rest of the nShield HSM family, enabling mixed deployments and easy expansion as performance requirements increase. nShield Solo is available in various performance models, including the Solo XC’s most accelerated model to date, supporting best-in-class elliptical curve cryptography (ECC) transaction rates. And helping customers protect powerful, mission-critical custom algorithms within the secure boundaries of the HSM, the Solo XC series expands CodeSafe, nShield’s unique run-time environment.

The nShield Solo+ is certified to FIPS 140-2 (Solo XC model is FIPS-pending).

Benefits of nShield Solo

• Embedded form factor for dedicated performance enhancement

• Support high volume, enterprise transactions with accelerated transaction rates

• Spacious run-time environment protects powerful custom apps within HSM

Security Features

nShield HSMs and the Thales Security World architecture combine a number of technologies to provide multi-layered security as follows:

Physical security

• A dedicated, card based security module that isolates cryptographic processes and keys from applications and host operating systems – accessible only through tightly controlled cryptographic APIs.
• Protect execution of custom, security-critical applications within the HSM boundary (CodeSafe option)
• Guard against tampering using specialty materials
• Detect attack attempts by monitoring hardware

Logical security

• Users authenticated using smart cards, avoiding reliance on weak and often shared passwords
• Clear separation of duties distinguish between administrators and key custodians in contrast to software based systems where application super-users or root-level administrators might enjoy widespread entitlements
• Minimize the threat of malicious insiders by requiring administrators to present smart cards as a quorum to perform particularly sensitive tasks such as key recovery. Highly configurable and strongly enforced within the HSM.
• Integrity validation and policy enforcement for nShield-protected applications (CodeSafe option)